IPL 7: Sunrisers Hyderabad – Team preview

Sunrisers Hyderabad are another team, which despite having some world class players, have failed to perform to their potential. They replaced the Deccan Chargers last year, and included 20 players from the previous squad into the new team.

During IPL 7 auction, while the other team owners were keen to sign big names at whopping amount, Sunrisers once again focused on players who wouldn’t spoil their budget, at the same time add value to the team. Instead of going for star players, they went for raw talents like Parvez Rasool and Karn Sharma. The latter’s bidding during IPL 7 auction, raised many eyebrows as the Sunrisers bought him for Rs 3.5 crores. The team management bought two explosive openers in David Warner and Aaron Finch. Both these batsmen are regular openers for Australia and can prove to be good assets for Dhawan & Co. Darren Sammy – the West Indies T20 skipper was bought back, and the team management would want him to continue playing some match-winning knocks, as he did for his national team in the recently concluded ICC World Twenty20. In the bowling department, the Sunrisers have three experienced Indian bowlers in Ishant Sharma, Amit Mishra and Bhuvneshwar Kumar. Not to forget, the attack is led by Steyn, who will once again be expected to get early breakthroughs for the team. Irfan Pathan – who was not retained by Delhi Daredevils, has also joined the squad and it would be interesting to see whether he can impress this time around in the seventh edition.   Shikhar Dhawan has now been handed over the responsibility to lead the squad. Dhawan has been a crucial member of the Indian team, ever since he made his debut against the Australians in Mohali last year. The team management would want him to showcase his leadership skills as well, and lead the side to their second title win.   Key signings: David Warner, Aaron Finch, Irfan Pathan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Moises Henriques   Strength: The Sunrisers Hyderabad have been hailed for their bowling line-up. Even last year, they defended some low totals and once the batsmen put around 160-170 runs on the board, it is a tough nut to crack for the opponents. The squad has some experienced Indian players, which makes the job easier.   Weakness: Apart from Darren Sammy, they don’t have a batsman in the middle-order who can score runs quickly. If Sammy fails to play a big knock, the team is left clueless. It is yet to be seen whether Moises Henriques can live up to the expectations.   Squad: Indian players: Shikhar Dhawan, Venugopal Rao, Karn Sharma, Parvez Rasool, Irfan Pathan, Manpreet Juneja, Ricky Bhui, Srikkanth Anirudha, Naman Ojha, Amit Paunikar, Lokesh Rahul, Ishant Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ashish Reddy, Amit Mishra, Chama Milin, Prasanth Parameswaran   Overseas players: Dale Steyn, Aaron Finch, David Warner, Moises Henriques, Darren Sammy, Brendan Taylor, Jason Holder   Probable playing eleven: Shikhar Dhawan, David Warner, Naman Ojha, Aaron Finch, Darren Sammy, Irfan Pathan, Karn Sharma, Amit Mishra, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Dale Steyn, Ishant Sharma